This is nothing new--it occurs a couple times a year. I was going to post on the lymphedema forum but it is rarely used. I'm just wondering what other people use to sop up the fluid. Once I became aware of my problem, I put on shorts and put bed chucks on my couch.

I do use a sequential pump at the insistence of my primary, cardiologist, and pulmonologist. The docs from the local wound center also want me to use it. Using the pump has not caused the lymphedema to spread. I just can't use the stockings. My legs--especially my right one-- are so misshapen that I need custom stockings and I simply can't afford them. They are not covered by health ins and are not tax deductible. My biggest problem is with my right thigh but the docs are primarily concerned about bandaging up to the knees. While my leg is leaking I will not use the pump. I know the docs don't want me to stop but it's just too sloppy. Besides, I know my leg will only leak for another day or two.

Sorry it is out of my league. Wondering if Web MD or Wikipedia might help. Also there must be an online support group that may be able to help. Below is a copy and paste from Wiki. BrianLymphedema - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I realized last night that I mad a serious error in my post. My cardiologist and pulmonologist don't give a hoot about using the lymphatic pump. Rather, they want me to use my C-PAP machine. But, I have a major problem with that. I don't sleep when I use it. Well, I may get 1 hour of sleep but I get 4 hour periods when I don't use it. I've even changed from a regular mask to the nose pillows ( whichh I think should be the first choice). So, I keep trying at least once a week but it's like beating a dead horse. I'll see my primary next month to discuss this with him. By the way, every time I've gone for a sleep study, I've barely been able to sleep an hour when hooked up to the C-PAP.

My sleep study at the hospital was a joke .. How can they expect even a "normal" person to sleep, with a camera trained on them and enough wires and tubes hooked up to make them suitable to take a spacewalk?

Then, the tech comes in as soon as you appear to be asleep, to try to play with the CPAP and BiPap machines on ya, adjusting settings and all. It was therefore no great surprise when it turned out the study concluded that neither CPAP nor BiPAP were of benefit for my condition (even with O2 added) ..

It was only after, a few years later, when my apnea got so bad that I was falling asleep at dangerous times, that I went to an ENT (not a pulmonologist) for an eval. He said my only solution was a permanent trach in my neck. Since I didn't want to go around like Darth Vader the rest of my life (think the voice), I MADE myself use my CPAP and MADE it work on me. After a couple of weeks, it and me became unseparable (whenever I was in bed) ..

Frank talk about the DS / "All I ever wanted to be was thin, like that Rolling Stones dude ... "

I sprung a "leak" the other day on that area of my right shin where the tissue is thinnest and a venous stasis wound seems to just be on the edge all the time .. Weeping epsiodes from that spot though are MUCH less frequent or copious than they were before my surgery/weight loss, and was in fact a major inspiration for my WLS.

Butttt .. stupid me .. I got to picking at the area with my thumbnail the other night and < sproing! > (I remember Dr. Antelmo grabbing my hands one day while I was talking to him, right after my surgery, and he whipped our his nail clippers and went clip clip clip right there, knowing that I was using them to pick at that area - lol) ..

When an edema spot is leaking, the only thing effective that I've found (and I hate to have to admit/use this) is a "light-days" women's pad, held in place with a velcro bandage wrap (I use the Ace ankle ones from Wal-Mart) .. I sometimes sneak into the women's restroom at night in our office building to get one out of the dispenser machine, if the need arises at the time. If the leak is really copious, use a small Pampers instead (tear off the plastic edging part, fold in half/double).

Keep a close watch that you don't have or aren't developing cellulitis or another type of infection in that area while the weeping is occuring. You also want to change the pad when it's saturated, and dispose of that smelly thing in a place where the bacteria in it (which lymph is copious with)won't contaminate anything else. At some point the skin has to be kept dry in order for the "weep hole" (geez, sounds like we talking auto waterpumps ) to heal up and quit leaking. It can't do that as long as the skin stays wet with lymph. That's another reason for using the pads/diapers, since they draw the fluid away from the area, collect and hold it in, and not let the wetness touch the skin (think of how those diapers work to avoid diaper rash). Fortunately, after a few hours (or days, in my pre-op world) the hole will close up, the leak will usually stop and you can go about your normal biz.

Frank talk about the DS / "All I ever wanted to be was thin, like that Rolling Stones dude ... "

A few years ago I used the women's pads. When I'm lying down I'm better off using the chucks. But, when I want to use something similar to the pads, I use male pads which are designed to go in the front of men's underwear. They can be very helpful for people with prostate problems. I take Flomax and that alerts me to the need to go, but the pads catch early or late drips.

I'll think about using them if the leaks continue in my legs. By the way, I get them at Walmart for $9.99 for a package of 52.